"Know Your Dream. Live it."
In September 2012, through a couple of borrowed sewing machines and 4 second hand computers, in the hamlet of Vadakkalore in a government community hall, we began the Tailoring and Computer Courses. A handful of youth and some married women from the villages were interested to learn and came along. It was difficult to convince the people to come to get skill education. One Belgian student intern Nathan Hermans, came and mobilized some youth from the villages and taught them life coping lessons. 8 boys started coming to learn computers and 4 ladies came to learn tailoring. Just when it was picking up, a drunken mob came into the hall and broke the computers and created a havoc and mess and everyone stopped coming and soon the hall was going to be used for other purposes by the village. So the tailoring machines and the computers were stacked in a tribal man’s house. This was the point where the project was supposed to end. Wrong. It was a new beginning.
In March 2014, we regrouped and decided to start the center in the Main Road where people from all villages could come and learn the skills. Anaikatty Rural Community College thus restarted with Computer, Tailoring and Mobile Repair Courses and successfully saw a couple of hundered students receive their certificates from Bharath Sevak Samaj (BSS).2017 September, we shifted to a new building with added courses like Catering, Beautician and House Wiring. We were also exploring the possibilities of starting a health Assistant course during that time.
In 2019, Corona affected the communities of Anaikatty and we saw them struggle for food. Dreamz assisted with grocery supply during this time, but also thought we should create economic sustainability for the community. So we taught the students to produce products in their field of study and sell them to do business. The Catering students prepared Masala, Chips and began selling them. The Beautician students created herbal soaps, hair oils, hair care products and began to sell them. The tailoring students stitched night wear, blouses and dresses, bags and began selling them. We called it the Group Work Station(GWS). Then it became the Community Group Work Station (CGWS) where we took the same concept to the village women and they started making cloth bags and paper bags, and started getting orders from other companies and doing it. Later it emerged into UPSCALE, where the group women had created as many as 20 products and were selling locally and to our known circle. By now we had bought a second hand Biscuit tea cup Making Machine and started experimenting making different kind of cups. There were wastages, damages, repairs, maintenance costs were eating our heads. In late 2024, We reorganized this business to formal establishment for production and sales of products made by tribal and rural people of Anaikatty in the name of Eltribo. We purchased a second machine for making 90ml edible tea cups.
By 2024-2025, our teams started becoming professional through creating SOPS and processes. We stepped into the much needed Health Care Sector, as we collaborated with Mankind Pharma Ltd. In reaching out to the 40 tribal and rural villages of Anaiaktty and as we did preliminary medical camps, awareness programs and needs survey we found out that the major need was to eradicate Anaemia and Malnutrition and our team have started to work focused towards this goal backing it up with distribution of nutrition kits, village doctor visits etc. We also restarted the Health Care Training (HCT) for students in Association with Bethany Medical Center where practical training was given for them. A napkin Manufacturing unit was established to provide low cost, affordable, sanitary napkins for the village people of Anaikatty.
To establish and promote local products, our youth are being trained in digital marketing, where the local products can be promoted locally as well as globally. With such great potential we are training our local youth in this sector. With extending into encouraging and helping people to create Kitchen Gardens for combating Anemia and Malnutrition, is where it is extending into reclaiming their land for agriculture and food. A hundered farmers and land owners are being mobilized to encourage them to sow and plant, seeds to reap a harvest of food and vegetables. Our team is collaborating with the government to bring awareness and such schemes to the farming community and revive them. Reviving Agriculture in the local community areas to become self sufficient is another game changer.
Community Owned Business (COB) is where we encourage women to be responsible for their products, from preparation to market linkages. Our team is training them slowly but steadily to make income out of it.
Another major development is in the Environmental clean energy sector, our House Wiring Trainer with his team is delving into research and development of retrofitting street lights to capitalize the power of sun’s energy and also our team is engaging in a organizing a training campaign for Upskilling Youth in retrofitting Vehicles to convert two wheelers into electric vehicles. Also research is going on bio fencing possibilities to reduce Man Animal conflict in the hilly elephant trodden areas of the western Ghats.